Robert C. McLeod

I was just making sure I got the correct information here before I responded to the Member. In the last five years we have had some foreclosures and now we have some that we’re working on, we’re taking legal action, and we have about 50 more pending. Thank you.

We look forward to any opportunity to brief committee on some of the initiatives that we’re working on. Also in the course of our business here, we have private meetings where we can inform the Members, especially in their constituencies, some of the initiatives that we’re working on. I will commit to keeping all Members informed and up to date on all the progress that we’ve made with working with the LHOs and their deficit recovery plans.

Thank you. We can work closely with some of our LHOs that have found themselves in a bit of a deficit and we have a Deficit Recovery Plan we’re working on with the LHOs. We do ask the LHOs to collect 90 percent in rental arrears or rent revenue up to 90 percent. The accumulated deficit of all our LHOs across the Northwest Territories at this particular time is $2.4 million. The accumulated arrears of all tenants of LHOs across the Northwest Territories at this particular moment are $13 million. So we have $11.6 million that these LHOs could be using to put towards their deficits and put back...

Mr. Speaker, the government recognizes that improving the quality and cost of housing will reduce the cost of living in communities across the Northwest Territories. Today I would like to update Members and the public on the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation’s -- NWTHC -- Vacant Housing Unit Strategy.

Concerns have been raised with the number of vacant units the NWT Housing Corp has in its portfolio in certain communities. Primarily, these vacant units resulted from our aggressive capital infrastructure construction and repair program to deliver housing within the time frames set out...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled Our Third Year 2011 - Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission 2009-2011 Corporate Plan.

Thank you. We are working with those LHOs that find themselves in deficit and we’ll continue to work with them. With the support of this government and this committee, we have identified funds that go towards alleviating some of the LHOs’ deficits and that’s something that was just recently approved and we have identified more funds in future years, because we recognize that there are some uncontrollables that we have to work with that the LHOs are trying to overcome and we recognize the responsibility that we have as the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation to help these LHOs. Again, we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation recognize our obligations to provide public housing to residents across the Northwest Territories. We have over 2,400 public housing units in our stock and with all the other units that we have, we have over 4,500 units that we have been responsible for getting on the ground to provide housing. So obviously this government, our Housing Corp in particular, recognizes its obligation to provide housing to residents in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, we do have a working group that does include the Aboriginal group. INAC is also invited to the table to take part in the discussion. So I can assure the Member that we’ll do what we can to continue to invite them to the table and have their input.

Some of the federal land, obviously, would be land that would be identified in some of these land claim processes that are going on, but it is our intent to always make sure we have the stakeholders, including INAC and the Aboriginal governments at the table to have a good discussion. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can assure the Member and all Members that MACA will take all necessary steps to deal with illegal squatters. The uptake on suspending the strategy has been very good. We have had a lot of folks come forward to legitimize their leases, not only in the Yellowknife area but in other areas in the Northwest Territories. We actually had 100 percent uptake in the other communities, so the message is out there. I can assure the Member that all illegal squatters will be dealt with. Thank you.

Thank you. I would grade that question B or B plus.

---Laughter

We’re starting to grade everything here and I’ll work on improving mine for the next report card.

We’ll continue to work with the federal government. I mean, obviously there’s a lot at stake here. I mean, there are devolution talks, which you know would speed up the whole process because we’d have more authority over the lands in the Northwest Territories. But I mean, I can assure the Member and all Members that it is our intent to constantly work and put pressure on the federal government to realize that they have some...